It's the Light

Gallery: WildlifePosted January 23, 2014107 views3 comments

I was going through my photos from the other day when I took a second look at this one. Compositionally, it's wasn't well conceived but I found the light absolutely fascinating. It almost looks surreal in the larger image. I really didn't know how to work on it other than cropping it out of a much larger image. This is probably 25% of the original image. Then I tried my best to clone out some distracting branches. It reminds me of a strobe flash at night but it's just early morning light on these 2 deer. Critiques and comments very welcome particularly on whether (and how) this might be improved. Incidentally, this image was taken a fraction of a second before the deer all got up and ran off in the event I mentioned yesterday. In the cropped out part of the image there is a deer that is halfway up. However, it didn't add anything to the scene I was trying to create here.

Tech Info

Canon EOS 60D with EF 70-200mm f/4L at 200mm
1/1250th at f/8.0 and ISO 500
Tripod
Lightroom 5

Comments

3 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on January 24, 2014 at 7:25 AM

Peter, not sure what to say about this one. It does have the look of a flash shot. For me the foliage between the deer and you does not help this photo. I find it distracting. I can see this was a challenge. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on January 24, 2014 at 9:37 PM

Hi Peter. I agree that the light is interesting and with the right composition it could have made for something extraordinary. Unfortunately, I feel that the presence of that poorly focused deer exiting the frame in front of the buck is disturbing. The timing of the photograph feels ambiguous; aggressive cloning and cropping in post hasn't resolved the composition issue.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on January 27, 2014 at 10:49 AM

Interesting, Peter, and I think it might work with just the buck. The doe really, really feels like an intrusion in the scene. What is the source light for the highlight in the eye, against such a dark background? This feels like it is almost all lighted artificially.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments